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The Lower East Side, sometimes abbreviated as LES, is a historic
neighborhood A neighbourhood (British English, Irish English, Australian English and Canadian English) or neighborhood (American English; see spelling differences) is a geographically localised community within a larger city, town, suburb or rural area, ...
in the southeastern part of
Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
in
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. It is located roughly between the
Bowery The Bowery () is a street and neighborhood in Lower Manhattan in New York City. The street runs from Chatham Square at Park Row, Worth Street, and Mott Street in the south to Cooper Square at 4th Street in the north.Jackson, Kenneth L. "B ...
and the
East River The East River is a saltwater tidal estuary in New York City. The waterway, which is actually not a river despite its name, connects Upper New York Bay on its south end to Long Island Sound on its north end. It separates the borough of Queens ...
from
Canal Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface flow un ...
to
Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...
streets. Traditionally an immigrant,
working-class The working class (or labouring class) comprises those engaged in manual-labour occupations or industrial work, who are remunerated via waged or salaried contracts. Working-class occupations (see also " Designation of workers by collar colou ...
neighborhood, it began rapid
gentrification Gentrification is the process of changing the character of a neighborhood through the influx of more Wealth, affluent residents and businesses. It is a common and controversial topic in urban politics and urban planning, planning. Gentrification ...
in the mid-2000s, prompting the
National Trust for Historic Preservation The National Trust for Historic Preservation is a privately funded, nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., that works in the field of historic preservation in the United States. The member-supported organization was founded in 1949 by ...
to place the neighborhood on their list of
America's Most Endangered Places America's 11 Most Endangered Places or America's 11 Most Endangered Historic Places is a list of places in the United States that the National Trust for Historic Preservation considers the most endangered. It aims to inspire Americans to preserve ex ...
in 2008. The Lower East Side is part of Manhattan Community District 3, and its primary ZIP Code is 10002. It is patrolled by the 7th Precinct of the
New York City Police Department The New York City Police Department (NYPD), officially the City of New York Police Department, established on May 23, 1845, is the primary municipal law enforcement agency within the City of New York, the largest and one of the oldest in ...
.


Boundaries

The Lower East Side is roughly bounded by East 14th Street on the north, by the
East River The East River is a saltwater tidal estuary in New York City. The waterway, which is actually not a river despite its name, connects Upper New York Bay on its south end to Long Island Sound on its north end. It separates the borough of Queens ...
to the east, by
Fulton Fulton may refer to: People * Robert Fulton (1765–1815), American engineer and inventor who developed the first commercially successful steam-powered ship * Fulton (surname) Given name * Fulton Allem (born 1957), South African golfer * Fult ...
and Franklin Streets to the south, and by Pearl Street and
Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...
to the west. This more extensive definition of the neighborhood includes
Chinatown A Chinatown () is an ethnic enclave of Chinese people located outside Greater China, most often in an urban setting. Areas known as "Chinatown" exist throughout the world, including Europe, North America, South America, Asia, Africa and Austra ...
, the East Village, and
Little Italy Little Italy is a general name for an ethnic enclave populated primarily by Italians or people of Italian ancestry, usually in an urban neighborhood. The concept of "Little Italy" holds many different aspects of the Italian culture. There are s ...
. A less extensive definition would have the neighborhood bordered in the south and west by
Chinatown A Chinatown () is an ethnic enclave of Chinese people located outside Greater China, most often in an urban setting. Areas known as "Chinatown" exist throughout the world, including Europe, North America, South America, Asia, Africa and Austra ...
, – which extends north to roughly Grand Street – in the west by
Nolita Nolita, sometimes written as NoLIta and deriving from "North of Little Italy",Roberts, Sam"New York’s Little Italy, Littler by the Year"''New York Times'' (February 21, 2011) is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. No ...
and in the north by the East Village. Historically, the "Lower East Side" referred to the area alongside the
East River The East River is a saltwater tidal estuary in New York City. The waterway, which is actually not a river despite its name, connects Upper New York Bay on its south end to Long Island Sound on its north end. It separates the borough of Queens ...
from about the
Manhattan Bridge The Manhattan Bridge is a suspension bridge that crosses the East River in New York City, connecting Lower Manhattan at Canal Street with Downtown Brooklyn at the Flatbush Avenue Extension. The main span is long, with the suspension cables be ...
and Canal Street up to 14th Street, and roughly bounded on the west by
Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...
. It included areas known today as East Village,
Alphabet City Alphabet City is a neighborhood located within the East Village in the New York City borough of Manhattan. Its name comes from Avenues A, B, C, and D, the only avenues in Manhattan to have single-letter names. It is bounded by Houston St ...
,
Chinatown A Chinatown () is an ethnic enclave of Chinese people located outside Greater China, most often in an urban setting. Areas known as "Chinatown" exist throughout the world, including Europe, North America, South America, Asia, Africa and Austra ...
,
Bowery The Bowery () is a street and neighborhood in Lower Manhattan in New York City. The street runs from Chatham Square at Park Row, Worth Street, and Mott Street in the south to Cooper Square at 4th Street in the north.Jackson, Kenneth L. "B ...
,
Little Italy Little Italy is a general name for an ethnic enclave populated primarily by Italians or people of Italian ancestry, usually in an urban neighborhood. The concept of "Little Italy" holds many different aspects of the Italian culture. There are s ...
, and
NoLIta Nolita, sometimes written as NoLIta and deriving from "North of Little Italy",Roberts, Sam"New York’s Little Italy, Littler by the Year"''New York Times'' (February 21, 2011) is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. No ...
. Parts of the East Village are still known as ''
Loisaida Alphabet City is a neighborhood located within the East Village in the New York City borough of Manhattan. Its name comes from Avenues A, B, C, and D, the only avenues in Manhattan to have single-letter names. It is bounded by Houston St ...
'', a
Latino Latino or Latinos most often refers to: * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America * Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States * The people or cultures of Latin America; ** Latin A ...
pronunciation of "Lower East Side".


Political representation

Politically, the neighborhood is in New York's 7th and
12th 12 (twelve) is the natural number following 11 and preceding 13. Twelve is a superior highly composite number, divisible by 2, 3, 4, and 6. It is the number of years required for an orbital period of Jupiter. It is central to many systems ...
congressional districts. It is in the
New York State Assembly The New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York State Legislature, with the New York State Senate being the upper house. There are 150 seats in the Assembly. Assembly members serve two-year terms without term limits. The Assem ...
's 65th district and 74th district; the
New York State Senate The New York State Senate is the upper house of the New York State Legislature; the New York State Assembly is its lower house. Its members are elected to two-year terms; there are no term limits. There are 63 seats in the Senate. Partisan com ...
's 26th district; and
New York City Council The New York City Council is the lawmaking body of New York City. It has 51 members from 51 council districts throughout the five Borough (New York City), boroughs. The council serves as a check against the Mayor of New York City, mayor in a may ...
's 1st and 2nd districts.


History


Prior to Europeans

As was true of all of Manhattan Island, the area now known as the Lower East Side was occupied by members of the
Lenape The Lenape (, , or Lenape , del, Lënapeyok) also called the Leni Lenape, Lenni Lenape and Delaware people, are an indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands, who live in the United States and Canada. Their historical territory includ ...
tribe, who were organized in bands that moved from place to place according to the seasons, fishing on the rivers in the summer, and moving inland in the fall and winter to gather crops and hunt for food. Their main trail took approximately the route of
Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...
. One encampment in the Lower East Side area, near
Corlears Hook The Lower East Side, sometimes abbreviated as LES, is a historic neighborhood in the southeastern part of Manhattan in New York City. It is located roughly between the Bowery and the East River from Canal to Houston streets. Traditionally an i ...
was called Rechtauck or Naghtogack.


Early settlement

The population of the Dutch colony of
New Amsterdam New Amsterdam ( nl, Nieuw Amsterdam, or ) was a 17th-century Dutch settlement established at the southern tip of Manhattan Island that served as the seat of the colonial government in New Netherland. The initial trading ''factory'' gave rise ...
was located primarily below the current Fulton Street, while north of it were a number of small plantations and large farms called "''bouwerij''" ("bowery", equivalent to "''boerderij''" in present-day Dutch). Around these farms were a number of enclaves of free or "half-free" Africans, which served as a buffer between the Dutch and the Native Americans. One of the largest of these was located along the modern
Bowery The Bowery () is a street and neighborhood in Lower Manhattan in New York City. The street runs from Chatham Square at Park Row, Worth Street, and Mott Street in the south to Cooper Square at 4th Street in the north.Jackson, Kenneth L. "B ...
between Prince Street and
Astor Place Astor Place is a one-block street in NoHo/ East Village, in the lower part of the New York City borough of Manhattan. It runs from Broadway in the west (just below East 8th Street) to Lafayette Street. The street encompasses two plazas at th ...
, as well as the "only separate enclave" of this type within Manhattan. These black farmers were some of the earliest settlers of the area.Hodges, Graham. "Lower East Side" in , pp.769-770 Gradually, during the 17th century, there was an overall consolidation of the boweries and farms into larger parcels, and much of the Lower East Side was then part of the Delancey farm.
James Delancey James De Lancey (November 27, 1703 – July 30, 1760) served as chief justice, lieutenant governor, and acting colonial governor of the Province of New York. Early life and education De Lancey was born in New York City on November 27, 170 ...
's pre-Revolutionary farm east of
post road A post road is a road designated for the transportation of postal mail. In past centuries, only major towns had a post house and the roads used by post riders or mail coaches to carry mail among them were particularly important ones or, due ...
leading from the city (
Bowery The Bowery () is a street and neighborhood in Lower Manhattan in New York City. The street runs from Chatham Square at Park Row, Worth Street, and Mott Street in the south to Cooper Square at 4th Street in the north.Jackson, Kenneth L. "B ...
) survives in the names
Delancey Street __NOTOC__ Delancey Street is one of the main thoroughfares of New York City's Lower East Side in Manhattan, running from the street's western terminus at the Bowery to its eastern end at FDR Drive, connecting to the Williamsburg Bridge and Bro ...
and
Orchard Street Orchard Street is a street in Manhattan which covers the eight city blocks between Division Street in Chinatown and East Houston Street on the Lower East Side. Vehicular traffic runs north on this one-way street. Orchard Street starts from ...
. On the modern map of Manhattan, the Delancey farm is represented in the grid of streets from Division Street north to Houston Street. In response to the pressures of a growing city, Delancey began to survey streets in the southern part of the "West Farm" in the 1760s. A spacious projected ''Delancey Square''—intended to cover the area within today's Eldridge, Essex, Hester and Broome Streets—was eliminated when the
loyalist Loyalism, in the United Kingdom, its overseas territories and its former colonies, refers to the allegiance to the British crown or the United Kingdom. In North America, the most common usage of the term refers to loyalty to the British Cro ...
Delancey family's property was confiscated after the
American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revolut ...
. The city Commissioners of Forfeiture eliminated the aristocratic planned square for a grid, effacing Delancey's vision of a New York laid out like the
West End of London The West End of London (commonly referred to as the West End) is a district of Central London, west of the City of London and north of the River Thames, in which many of the city's major tourist attractions, shops, businesses, government buil ...
.


Corlears Hook

The point of land on the East River now called Corlears Hook was also called Corlaers Hook under Dutch and British rule, and briefly Crown Point during British occupation in the Revolution. It was named after the schoolmaster Jacobus van Corlaer, who settled on this "plantation" that in 1638 was called by a Europeanized version of its Lenape name, ''Nechtans'' or ''Nechtanc''. Corlaer sold the plantation to Wilhelmus Hendrickse Beekman (1623–1707), founder of the Beekman family of New York; his son
Gerardus Beekman Gerardus Willemse Beekman (c. August 1653 – October 10, 1723) was a wealthy physician, land owner, and colonial governor of the Province of New York. Early life He was christened August 17, 1653 at Corlaer's Hook Plantation, New York, the seco ...
was christened at the plantation, on August 17, 1653. On February 25, 1643, volunteers from the
New Amsterdam New Amsterdam ( nl, Nieuw Amsterdam, or ) was a 17th-century Dutch settlement established at the southern tip of Manhattan Island that served as the seat of the colonial government in New Netherland. The initial trading ''factory'' gave rise ...
colony killed forty Wiechquaesgecks at their encampment in the
Massacre at Corlears Hook The Massacre at Corlears Hook of February 25, 1643 was a colonial massacre of forty Wecquaesgeek of all ages and genders on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, perpetrated by a force led by Maryn Adriansen, acting under Willem Kieft, the Director of ...
, as part of
Kieft's War Kieft's War (1643–1645), also known as the Wappinger War, was a conflict between the colonial province of New Netherland and the Wappinger and Lenape Indians in what is now New York and New Jersey. It is named for Director-General of New Nethe ...
, in retaliation for ongoing conflicts between the colonists and the natives of the area, including their unwillingness to pay tribute, and their refusal to turn over the killer of a colonist. The projection into the East River that retained Corlaer's name was an important landmark for navigators for 300 years. On older maps and documents it is usually spelled ''Corlaers'' Hook, but since the early 19th century the spelling has been anglicized to ''Corlears''. The rough unplanned settlement that developed at Corlaer's Hook under the British occupation of New York during the Revolution was separated from the densely populated city by rough hills of glacial till: "this region lay beyond the city proper, from which it was separated by high, uncultivated, and rough hills", observers recalled in 1843. As early as 1816, Corlears Hook was notorious for streetwalkers, "a resort for the lewd and abandoned of both sexes", and in 1821 its "streets abounding every night with preconcerted groups of thieves and prostitutes" were noted by the "Christian Herald". In the course of the 19th century they came to be called '' hookers''. In the summer of
cholera Cholera is an infection of the small intestine by some strains of the bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea that lasts a few days. Vomiting and ...
in New York, 1832, a two-storey wooden workshop was commandeered to serve as a makeshift cholera hospital; between July 18 and September 15 when the hospital was closed, as the cholera wound down, 281 patients were admitted, both black and white, of whom 93 died. In 1833, Corlear's Hook was the location of some of the first
tenement A tenement is a type of building shared by multiple dwellings, typically with flats or apartments on each floor and with shared entrance stairway access. They are common on the British Isles, particularly in Scotland. In the medieval Old Town, i ...
s built in New York City. Corlears Hook is mentioned in the opening page of
Herman Melville Herman Melville (Name change, born Melvill; August 1, 1819 – September 28, 1891) was an American people, American novelist, short story writer, and poet of the American Renaissance (literature), American Renaissance period. Among his bes ...
's ''
Moby Dick ''Moby-Dick; or, The Whale'' is an 1851 novel by American writer Herman Melville. The book is the sailor Ishmael's narrative of the obsessive quest of Ahab, captain of the whaling ship ''Pequod'', for revenge against Moby Dick, the giant whit ...
'', first published in 1851: "Circumambulate the city of a dreamy Sabbath afternoon. Go from Corlears Hook to
Coenties Slip Coenties Slip is a street in the Financial District of Manhattan in New York City. It runs southeast for two blocks in Lower Manhattan from Pearl Street to South Street. A walkway runs an additional block north from Pearl Street to Stone Str ...
, and from thence, by Whitehall, northward. What do you see? ..." The original location of Corlears Hook is now obscured by shoreline landfill. It was near the east end of the present pedestrian bridge over the
FDR Drive The Franklin D. Roosevelt East River Drive, commonly called the FDR Drive for short, is a limited-access parkway on the east side of the New York City borough of Manhattan. It starts near South and Broad Streets, just north of the Battery Park ...
near Cherry Street. The name is preserved in Corlears Hook Park at the intersection of Jackson and Cherry Streets along the East River Drive.


Immigration

The bulk of immigrants who came to New York City in the late 19th and early 20th centuries came to the Lower East Side, moving into crowded
tenement A tenement is a type of building shared by multiple dwellings, typically with flats or apartments on each floor and with shared entrance stairway access. They are common on the British Isles, particularly in Scotland. In the medieval Old Town, i ...
s there. By the 1840s, large numbers of German immigrants settled in the area, and a large part of it became known as " Little Germany" or "Kleindeutschland". This was followed by groups of Italians and Eastern European Jews, as well as Greeks, Hungarians, Poles, Romanians, Russians, Slovaks and Ukrainians, each of whom settled in relatively homogeneous enclaves. By 1920, the Jewish neighborhood was one of the largest of these ethnic groupings, with 400,000 people, pushcart vendors prominent on
Orchard An orchard is an intentional plantation of trees or shrubs that is maintained for food production. Orchards comprise fruit- or nut-producing trees which are generally grown for commercial production. Orchards are also sometimes a feature of larg ...
and
Grand Grand may refer to: People with the name * Grand (surname) * Grand L. Bush (born 1955), American actor * Grand Mixer DXT, American turntablist * Grand Puba (born 1966), American rapper Places * Grand, Oklahoma * Grand, Vosges, village and commu ...
Streets, and numerous
Yiddish theatre Yiddish theatre consists of plays written and performed primarily by Jews in Yiddish, the language of the Central European Ashkenazi Jewish community. The range of Yiddish theatre is broad: operetta, musical comedy, and satiric or nostalgic revues ...
s along Second Avenue between
Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...
and
14th 14 (fourteen) is a natural number following 13 (number), 13 and preceding 15 (number), 15. In relation to the word "four" (4), 14 is spelled "fourteen". In mathematics * 14 is a composite number. * 14 is a square pyramidal number. * 14 is a s ...
Streets. Living conditions in these "slum" areas were far from ideal, although some improvement came from a change in the zoning laws which required "new law" tenements to be built with air shafts between them, so that fresh air and some light could reach each apartment. Still, reform movements, such as the one started by
Jacob Riis Jacob August Riis ( ; May 3, 1849 – May 26, 1914) was a Danish-American social reformer, "muckraking" journalist and social documentary photographer. He contributed significantly to the cause of urban reform in America at the turn of the twen ...
's book ''
How the Other Half Lives ''How the Other Half Lives: Studies among the Tenements of New York'' (1890) is an early publication of photojournalism by Jacob Riis, documenting squalid living conditions in New York City slums in the 1880s. The photographs served as a basis f ...
'' continued to attempt to alleviate the problems of the area through
settlement house The settlement movement was a reformist social movement that began in the 1880s and peaked around the 1920s in United Kingdom and the United States. Its goal was to bring the rich and the poor of society together in both physical proximity and s ...
s, such as the
Henry Street Settlement The Henry Street Settlement is a not-for-profit social service agency in the Lower East Side neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City that provides social services, arts programs and health care services to New Yorkers of all ages. It was founde ...
, and other welfare and service agencies. The city itself moved to address the problem when it built
First Houses First Houses is a public housing project in the East Village, Manhattan, New York City and was one of the first public housing projects in the United States. First Houses were designated a New York City and National Historic Landmark in 1974. T ...
, the first such
public housing project Public housing is a form of housing tenure in which the property is usually owned by a government authority, either central or local. Although the common goal of public housing is to provide affordable housing, the details, terminology, def ...
in the United States, in 1935-1936. The development, located on the south side of East 3rd Street between First Avenue and Avenue A, and on the west side of Avenue A between East 2nd and East 3rd Streets, is now considered to be located within the East Village.


Societal change and decline

By the turn of the twentieth century, the neighborhood had become closely associated with radical politics, such as
anarchism Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is skeptical of all justifications for authority and seeks to abolish the institutions it claims maintain unnecessary coercion and hierarchy, typically including, though not necessa ...
,
socialism Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...
and
communism Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...
, and was also known as a place where many popular performers had grown up, such as
Eddie Cantor Eddie Cantor (born Isidore Itzkowitz; January 31, 1892 – October 10, 1964) was an American comedian, actor, dancer, singer, songwriter, film producer, screenwriter and author. Familiar to Broadway, radio, movie, and early television audiences, ...
,
Al Jolson Al Jolson (born Eizer Yoelson; June 9, 1886 – October 23, 1950) was a Lithuanian-American Jews, Jewish singer, comedian, actor, and vaudevillian. He was one of the United States' most famous and highest-paid stars of the 1920s, and was self-bi ...
,
George George may refer to: People * George (given name) * George (surname) * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Washington, First President of the United States * George W. Bush, 43rd Presiden ...
and
Ira Gershwin Ira Gershwin (born Israel Gershovitz; December 6, 1896 – August 17, 1983) was an American lyricist who collaborated with his younger brother, composer George Gershwin, to create some of the most memorable songs in the English language of the 2 ...
,
Jimmy Durante James Francis Durante ( , ; February 10, 1893 – January 29, 1980) was an American comedian, actor, singer, vaudevillian, and pianist. His distinctive gravelly speech, Lower East Side accent, comic language-butchery, jazz-influenced song ...
, and
Irving Berlin Irving Berlin (born Israel Beilin; yi, ישראל ביילין; May 11, 1888 – September 22, 1989) was a Russian-American composer, songwriter and lyricist. His music forms a large part of the Great American Songbook. Born in Imperial Russi ...
. Later, more radical artists such as the
Beat Beat, beats or beating may refer to: Common uses * Patrol, or beat, a group of personnel assigned to monitor a specific area ** Beat (police), the territory that a police officer patrols ** Gay beat, an area frequented by gay men * Battery (c ...
poets and writers were drawn to the neighborhood – especially the parts which later became the East Village – by the inexpensive housing and cheap food. The German population decreased in the early twentieth century as a result of the ''
General Slocum The PS ''General Slocum''"PS" stands for "Paddle Steamer" was a sidewheel passenger steamboat built in Brooklyn, New York, in 1891. During her service history, she was involved in a number of mishaps, including multiple groundings and collision ...
'' disaster and due to anti-German sentiment prompted by
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
. After
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, the Lower East Side became New York City's first racially integrated neighborhood with the influx of
African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
s and
Puerto Ricans Puerto Ricans ( es, Puertorriqueños; or boricuas) are the people of Puerto Rico, the inhabitants, and citizens of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and their descendants. Overview The culture held in common by most Puerto Ricans is referred t ...
. Areas where Spanish speaking was predominant began to be called
Loisaida Alphabet City is a neighborhood located within the East Village in the New York City borough of Manhattan. Its name comes from Avenues A, B, C, and D, the only avenues in Manhattan to have single-letter names. It is bounded by Houston St ...
. By the 1960s, the influence of the Jewish and eastern European groups declined as many of these residents had left the area, while other ethnic groups had coalesced into separate neighborhoods, such as
Little Italy Little Italy is a general name for an ethnic enclave populated primarily by Italians or people of Italian ancestry, usually in an urban neighborhood. The concept of "Little Italy" holds many different aspects of the Italian culture. There are s ...
. The Lower East Side then experienced a period of "persistent poverty, crime, drugs, and abandoned housing". A substantial portion of the neighborhood was slated for demolition under the Cooper Square Urban Renewal Plan of 1956, which was to redevelop the area from Ninth to
Delancey Street __NOTOC__ Delancey Street is one of the main thoroughfares of New York City's Lower East Side in Manhattan, running from the street's western terminus at the Bowery to its eastern end at FDR Drive, connecting to the Williamsburg Bridge and Bro ...
s from the Bowery/Third Avenue to
Chrystie Street Chrystie Street is a street on Manhattan's Lower East Side and Chinatown, Manhattan, Chinatown, running as a continuation of Second Avenue (Manhattan), Second Avenue from Houston Street, for seven blocks south to Canal Street (Manhattan), Canal ...
/Second Avenue with new privately owned
cooperative housing A housing cooperative, or housing co-op, is a legal entity, usually a cooperative or a corporation, which owns real estate, consisting of one or more residential buildings; it is one type of housing tenure. Housing cooperatives are a distinc ...
. The
United Housing Foundation {{unreferenced, date=September 2019 The United Housing Foundation (UHF) was a real estate investment trust in New York that constructed numerous cooperative housing projects, including Rochdale Village in Queens and Co-op City in the Bronx. Pu ...
was selected as the sponsor for the project, which faced great opposition from the community. Neither the original large-scale development nor a 1961 revised proposal were implemented, and it was not until 1991 that an agreement was made to redevelop a small portion of the proposed renewal site.


East Village split and gentrification

The East Village was once considered the Lower East Side's northwest corner. However, in the 1960s, the demographics of the area above
Houston Street Houston Street ( ) is a major east–west thoroughfare in Lower Manhattan in New York City. It runs the full width of the island of Manhattan, from FDR Drive along the East River in the east to the West Side Highway along the Hudson River in t ...
began to change, as hipsters, musicians, and artists moved in. Newcomers and real estate brokers popularized the East Village name, and the term was adopted by the popular media by the mid-1960s. As the East Village developed a culture separate from the rest of the Lower East Side, the two areas came to be seen as two separate neighborhoods rather than the former being part of the latter. By the 1980s, the Lower East Side had begun to stabilize after its period of
decline Decline may refer to: *Decadence, involves a perceived decay in standards, morals, dignity, religious faith, or skill over time * "Decline" (song), 2017 song by Raye and Mr Eazi * ''The Decline'' (EP), an EP by NOFX *The Decline (band), Australian ...
, and once again began to attract students, artists and adventurous members of the
middle-class The middle class refers to a class of people in the middle of a social hierarchy, often defined by occupation, income, education, or social status. The term has historically been associated with modernity, capitalism and political debate. Comm ...
, as well as immigrants from countries such as Bangladesh, China, the
Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares wit ...
, India, Japan, Korea, the Philippines and Poland. In the early 2000s, the gentrification of the East Village spread to the Lower East Side proper, making it one of the trendiest neighborhoods in Manhattan.
Orchard Street Orchard Street is a street in Manhattan which covers the eight city blocks between Division Street in Chinatown and East Houston Street on the Lower East Side. Vehicular traffic runs north on this one-way street. Orchard Street starts from ...
, despite its "Bargain District" moniker, is now lined with upscale boutiques. Similarly, trendy restaurants, including Clinton St. Baking Company & Restaurant, Cube 63, and Falai are found on a stretch of tree-lined Clinton Street that ''
New York Magazine ''New York'' is an American biweekly magazine concerned with life, culture, politics, and style generally, and with a particular emphasis on New York City. Founded by Milton Glaser and Clay Felker in 1968 as a competitor to ''The New Yorker'', ...
'' described as the "hippest restaurant row" on the Lower East Side. In November 2007, the
Blue Condominium The Blue Condominium, also known as the Blue Tower, is located in the Lower East Side neighborhood of New York City at 105 Norfolk Street. Designed by Bernard Tschumi, it is his first residential and first high-rise structure. At 16 stories tal ...
, a 32-unit, 16 story luxury condominium tower was completed at 105 Norfolk Street just north of Delancey Street. The pixellated, faceted blue design starkly contrasts with the surrounding neighborhood. Following the construction of the Hotel on Rivington one block away, several luxury condominiums around Houston, and the
New Museum The New Museum of Contemporary Art, founded in 1977 by Marcia Tucker, is a museum in New York City at 235 Bowery, on Manhattan's Lower East Side. History The museum originally opened in a space in the Graduate Center of the then-named New Sc ...
on
Bowery The Bowery () is a street and neighborhood in Lower Manhattan in New York City. The street runs from Chatham Square at Park Row, Worth Street, and Mott Street in the south to Cooper Square at 4th Street in the north.Jackson, Kenneth L. "B ...
, this new wave of construction is another sign that the gentrification cycle is entering a high-luxury phase similar to in
SoHo Soho is an area of the City of Westminster, part of the West End of London. Originally a fashionable district for the aristocracy, it has been one of the main entertainment districts in the capital since the 19th century. The area was develop ...
and
Nolita Nolita, sometimes written as NoLIta and deriving from "North of Little Italy",Roberts, Sam"New York’s Little Italy, Littler by the Year"''New York Times'' (February 21, 2011) is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. No ...
in the previous decade. More recently, the gentrification that was previously confined to north of Delancey Street continued south. Several restaurants, bars, and galleries opened below Delancey Street after 2005, especially around the intersection of Broome and Orchard Streets. The neighborhood's second boutique hotel, Blue Moon Hotel, opened on Orchard Street just south of Delancey Street in early 2006. However, unlike The Hotel on Rivington, the Blue Moon used an existing tenement building, and its exterior is almost identical to neighboring buildings. In September 2013, it was announced that the
Essex Crossing Essex Crossing is an under-construction mixed-use development in New York City's Lower East Side, at the intersection of Delancey Street and Essex Street just north of Seward Park. Essex Crossing will comprise nearly of space on and will cos ...
redevelopment project was to be built in the area, centered around the intersection of Essex and Delancey Streets, but mostly utilizing land south of Delancey Street.


Demographics

The census tabulation area for the Lower East Side is bounded to the north by 14th Street and to the west by Avenue B, Norfolk Street,
Essex Street Essex Street is a north-south street on the Lower East Side of the New York City borough of Manhattan. North of Houston Street, the street becomes Avenue A, which goes north to 14th Street. South of Canal Street it becomes Rutgers Street, the ...
, and Pike Street. Based on data from the
2010 United States Census The United States census of 2010 was the twenty-third United States national census. National Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2010. The census was taken via mail-in citizen self-reporting, with enumerators servin ...
, the population of Lower East Side was 72,957, an increase of 699 (1.0%) from the 72,258 counted in
2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...
. Covering an area of , the neighborhood had a population density of .Table PL-P5 NTA: Total Population and Persons Per Acre – New York City Neighborhood Tabulation Areas*, 2010
Population Division –
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
Department of City Planning, February 2012. Accessed June 16, 2016.
The racial makeup of the neighborhood was 22.6% (16,453)
White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...
, 10.9% (7,931)
African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
, 0.2% (142) Native American, 24.9% (18,166)
Asian Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...
, 0.0% (13)
Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe the original p ...
, 0.3% (191) from
other races Other often refers to: * Other (philosophy), a concept in psychology and philosophy Other or The Other may also refer to: Film and television * ''The Other'' (1913 film), a German silent film directed by Max Mack * ''The Other'' (1930 film), a ...
, and 1.6% (1,191) from two or more races.
Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to Vic ...
or
Latino Latino or Latinos most often refers to: * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America * Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States * The people or cultures of Latin America; ** Latin A ...
of any race were 39.6% (28,870) of the population.Table PL-P3A NTA: Total Population by Mutually Exclusive Race and Hispanic Origin – New York City Neighborhood Tabulation Areas*, 2010
Population Division –
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
Department of City Planning, March 29, 2011. Accessed June 14, 2016.
The racial composition of the Lower East Side changed moderately from 2000 to 2010, with the most significant changes being the White population's increase by 18% (2,514), the Asian population's increase by 10% (1,673), and the Hispanic / Latino population's decrease by 10% (3,219). The minority Black population experienced a slight increase by 1% (41), while the very small population of all other races decreased by 17% (310). The Lower East Side lies in Manhattan Community District 3, which encompasses the Lower East Side, the East Village and
Chinatown A Chinatown () is an ethnic enclave of Chinese people located outside Greater China, most often in an urban setting. Areas known as "Chinatown" exist throughout the world, including Europe, North America, South America, Asia, Africa and Austra ...
. Community District 3 had 171,103 inhabitants as of NYC Health's 2018 Community Health Profile, with an average life expectancy of 82.2 years. This is higher than the median life expectancy of 81.2 for all New York City neighborhoods. Most inhabitants are adults: a plurality (35%) are between the ages of 25–44, while 25% are between 45–64, and 16% are 65 or older. The ratio of youth and college-aged residents was lower, at 13% and 11% respectively. As of 2017, the median
household income Household income is a measure of the combined incomes of all people sharing a particular household or place of residence. It includes every form of income, e.g., salaries and wages, retirement income, near cash government transfers like food stamp ...
in Community District 3 was $39,584, though the median income in the Lower East Side individually was $51,649. In 2018, an estimated 18% of Community District 3 residents lived in poverty, compared to 14% in all of Manhattan and 20% in all of New York City. One in twelve residents (8%) were unemployed, compared to 7% in Manhattan and 9% in New York City. Rent burden, or the percentage of residents who have difficulty paying their rent, is 48% in Community District 3, compared to the boroughwide and citywide rates of 45% and 51% respectively. Based on this calculation, , Community District 3 is considered to be
gentrifying Gentrification is the process of changing the character of a neighborhood through the influx of more affluent residents and businesses. It is a common and controversial topic in urban politics and planning. Gentrification often increases the ec ...
: according to the Community Health Profile, the district was low-income in 1990 and has seen above-median rent growth up to 2010.


Culture


Immigrant neighborhood

One of the oldest neighborhoods of the city, the Lower East Side has long been a lower-class
worker The working class (or labouring class) comprises those engaged in manual labour, manual-labour occupations or industrial work, who are remunerated via wage, waged or salary, salaried contracts. Working-class occupations (see also "Designation ...
neighborhood and often a poor and ethnically diverse section of New York. As well as
Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...
,
Italians , flag = , flag_caption = The national flag of Italy , population = , regions = Italy 55,551,000 , region1 = Brazil , pop1 = 25–33 million , ref1 = , region2 ...
,
Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, who share a common history, culture, the Polish language and are identified with the country of Poland in Ce ...
,
Ukrainians Ukrainians ( uk, Українці, Ukraintsi, ) are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine. They are the seventh-largest nation in Europe. The native language of the Ukrainians is Ukrainian language, Ukrainian. The majority ...
, and other ethnic groups, it once had a sizeable
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...
population and was known as Little Germany (Kleindeutschland). Today it is a predominantly Puerto Rican and Dominican community, and in the process of
gentrification Gentrification is the process of changing the character of a neighborhood through the influx of more Wealth, affluent residents and businesses. It is a common and controversial topic in urban politics and urban planning, planning. Gentrification ...
(as documented by the portraits of its residents in the Clinton+Rivington chapter of The Corners Project.) Since the immigration waves from eastern Europe in the late 19th and early 20th century, the Lower East Side became known as having been a center of
Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
immigrant culture. In her 2000 book ''Lower East Side Memories: A Jewish Place in America'',
Hasia Diner Hasia Diner Hasia R. Diner is an American historian. Diner is the Paul S. and Sylvia Steinberg Professor of American Jewish History; Professor of Hebrew and Judaic Studies, History; Director of the Goldstein-Goren Center for American Jewish Hist ...
explains that the Lower East Side is especially remembered as a place of Jewish beginnings for Ashkenazi American Jewish culture. Vestiges of the area's Jewish heritage exist in shops on
Hester Hester is both a female given name and a surname. As a given name Hester is a variant of Esther. As a surname it is of Germanic origin and uncertain meaning, possible roots being the Middle High German ''heister'' beech tree indicating residence ne ...
and
Essex Street Essex Street is a north-south street on the Lower East Side of the New York City borough of Manhattan. North of Houston Street, the street becomes Avenue A, which goes north to 14th Street. South of Canal Street it becomes Rutgers Street, the ...
s, and on Grand Street near Allen Street. An Orthodox Jewish community is based in the area, operating
yeshiva A yeshiva (; he, ישיבה, , sitting; pl. , or ) is a traditional Jewish educational institution focused on the study of Rabbinic literature, primarily the Talmud and halacha (Jewish law), while Torah and Jewish philosophy are s ...
day schools and a
mikvah Mikveh or mikvah (,  ''mikva'ot'', ''mikvoth'', ''mikvot'', or (Yiddish) ''mikves'', lit., "a collection") is a bath used for the purpose of ritual immersion in Judaism to achieve ritual purity. Most forms of ritual impurity can be purifi ...
. A few Judaica shops can be found along Essex Street and a few Jewish scribes and variety stores. Some kosher delis and bakeries, as well as a few "kosher style" delis, including the famous
Katz's Deli Katz's Delicatessen, also known as Katz's of New York City, is a kosher-style delicatessen at 205 East Houston Street, on the southwest corner of Houston and Ludlow Streets on the Lower East Side of Manhattan in New York City.
, are located in the neighborhood. Second Avenue in the Lower East Side was home to many
Yiddish theatre Yiddish theatre consists of plays written and performed primarily by Jews in Yiddish, the language of the Central European Ashkenazi Jewish community. The range of Yiddish theatre is broad: operetta, musical comedy, and satiric or nostalgic revues ...
productions in the
Yiddish Theater District The Yiddish Theatre District, also called the Jewish Rialto and the Yiddish Realto, was the center of New York City's Yiddish theatre scene in the early 20th century. It was located primarily on Second Avenue, though it extended to Avenue B, b ...
during the early part of the 20th century, and Second Avenue came to be known as "Yiddish Broadway," though most of the theaters are gone. Songwriter
Irving Berlin Irving Berlin (born Israel Beilin; yi, ישראל ביילין; May 11, 1888 – September 22, 1989) was a Russian-American composer, songwriter and lyricist. His music forms a large part of the Great American Songbook. Born in Imperial Russi ...
, actor
John Garfield John Garfield (born Jacob Julius Garfinkle, March 4, 1913 – May 21, 1952) was an American actor who played brooding, rebellious, working-class characters. He grew up in poverty in New York City. In the early 1930s, he became a member of ...
, and singer
Eddie Cantor Eddie Cantor (born Isidore Itzkowitz; January 31, 1892 – October 10, 1964) was an American comedian, actor, dancer, singer, songwriter, film producer, screenwriter and author. Familiar to Broadway, radio, movie, and early television audiences, ...
grew up here. Since the mid-20th century, the area has been settled primarily by immigrants, primarily from
Latin America Latin America or * french: Amérique Latine, link=no * ht, Amerik Latin, link=no * pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived f ...
, especially Central America and Puerto Rico. They have established their own groceries and shops, marketing goods from their culture and cuisine. Bodegas have replaced Jewish shops. They are mostly Roman Catholic. In what is now the East Village, the earlier populations of Poles and Ukrainians have moved on and been largely supplanted by newer immigrants. The immigration of numerous Japanese people over the last fifteen years or so has led to the proliferation of Japanese restaurants and specialty food markets. There is also a notable population of Bangladeshis and other immigrants from Muslim countries, many of whom are congregants of the small Madina Masjid (Mosque), located on First Avenue and 11th Street. The neighborhood still has many historic synagogues, such as the Bialystoker Synagogue, Beth Hamedrash Hagadol (Manhattan, New York), Beth Hamedrash Hagadol, the Eldridge Street Synagogue, Kehila Kedosha Janina (the only Greek synagogue in the Western Hemisphere), the Angel Orensanz Center (the fourth Oldest synagogues in the United States, oldest synagogue building in the United States), and various smaller synagogues along East Broadway. Another landmark, the First Roumanian-American congregation (the Rivington Street synagogue) partially collapsed in 2006, and was subsequently demolished. In addition, there is a major International Society for Krishna Consciousness, Hare Krishna temple and several Buddhist houses of worship. Han Chinese, Chinese residents have also been moving into Lower East Side, and since the late 20th century, they have comprised a large immigrant group in the area. The part of the neighborhood south of Delancey Street (Manhattan), Delancey Street and west of Allen Street (Manhattan), Allen Street has, in large measure, become part of
Chinatown A Chinatown () is an ethnic enclave of Chinese people located outside Greater China, most often in an urban setting. Areas known as "Chinatown" exist throughout the world, including Europe, North America, South America, Asia, Africa and Austra ...
. Grand Street is one of the major business and shopping streets of Chinatown. Also contained within the neighborhood are strips of lighting and restaurant supply shops on the Bowery.


Jewish neighborhood

While the Lower East Side has been a place of successive immigrant populations, many American Jews relate to the neighborhood in a strong manner, and
Chinatown A Chinatown () is an ethnic enclave of Chinese people located outside Greater China, most often in an urban setting. Areas known as "Chinatown" exist throughout the world, including Europe, North America, South America, Asia, Africa and Austra ...
holds a special place in the imagination of Chinese Americans, just as Astoria, Queens, Astoria in Queens holds a place in the hearts of Greek Americans. It was a center for the ancestors of many people in the metropolitan area, and it was written about and portrayed in fiction and films. In the late twentieth century, Jewish communities have worked to preserve a number of buildings associated with the Jewish immigrant community. Landmarks include: *The Educational Alliance Settlement house – 175 East Broadway *
Henry Street Settlement The Henry Street Settlement is a not-for-profit social service agency in the Lower East Side neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City that provides social services, arts programs and health care services to New Yorkers of all ages. It was founde ...
 – 263–267 Henry Street and 466 Grand Street *University Settlement House - 184 Eldridge Street *Katz's Deli – 205 East Houston Street *Guss' Pickles – 87 Orchard Street *Kossar's Bialys – 367 Grand Street *Gertel's Bake Shop – formerly at 53 Hester Street from 1914 until it closed in 2007 *Knickerbocker Village – 10 Monroe Street *Streit Matzo Co. – 150 Rivington Street *Yonah Schimmel's Knish Bakery – 137 East Houston Street *Mendel Goldberg Fabrics, since 1890 - 72 Hester Street *Harris Levy Fine Linens, since 1894 – 98 Forsyth Street *Russ & Daughters – 179 East Houston Street *Schapiro's Kosher Wine – Essex Street Market *Forward Building Synagogues include: * Adath Jeshurun of Jassy Synagogue *Bialystoker Synagogue – 7–11 Willet Street, occupies a building constructed in Greek Revival architecture, Greek Revival style for the Willett Street Methodist Episcopal Church in 1826 and acquired in 1905 for the Orthodox Jewish congregation. *Beth Hamedrash Hagadol (Manhattan, New York), Beth Hamedrash Hagadol – 60–64 Norfolk Street *Eldridge Street Synagogue – 12 Eldridge Street *Kehila Kedosha Janina – 280 Broome Street *Angel Orensanz Center – the fourth-Oldest synagogues in the United States, oldest synagogue building in the United States *Congregation Chasam Sopher;– 10 Clinton Street *Meseritz Synagogue *Stanton Street Synagogue;– 180 Stanton Street *Boyan (Hasidic dynasty), Boyaner ''kloiz'' at 247 East Broadway, opened in 1928 by the Mordechai Shlomo Friedman, Boyaner Rebbe of New York


Little Fuzhou, Chinatown

Little Fuzhou (), or Fuzhou Town () is a neighborhood within the eastern sliver of
Chinatown A Chinatown () is an ethnic enclave of Chinese people located outside Greater China, most often in an urban setting. Areas known as "Chinatown" exist throughout the world, including Europe, North America, South America, Asia, Africa and Austra ...
, in the Two Bridges, Manhattan, Two Bridges and Lower East Side areas of Manhattan. Starting in the 1980s and especially in the 1990s, the neighborhood became a prime destination for Fuzhou Americans, immigrants from Fuzhou, Fujian, China. Manhattan's Little Fuzhou is centered on East Broadway (Manhattan), East Broadway. However, since the 2000s, Chinatown, Brooklyn became New York City's new primary destination for the Fuzhou immigrants evolving a second Little Fuzhou of the city and has now far surpassed as being the largest Fuzhou cultural center of the New York metropolitan area and still rapidly growing in contrast to Manhattan's Little Fuzhou, now undergoing
gentrification Gentrification is the process of changing the character of a neighborhood through the influx of more Wealth, affluent residents and businesses. It is a common and controversial topic in urban politics and urban planning, planning. Gentrification ...
. Since the 2010s, the Fuzhou immigrant population and businesses have been declining throughout the whole eastern portion of Manhattan's Chinatown due to gentrification. There is a rapidly increasing influx of high-income professionals moving into this area, often non-Chinese, including high-end hipster-owned businesses.


Art scene

The neighborhood has become home to numerous contemporary art galleries. One of the first was ABC No Rio. Begun by a group of Colab no wave artists (some living on Ludlow Street), ABC No Rio opened an outsider gallery space that invited community participation and encouraged the widespread production of art. Taking an activist approach to art that grew out of The Real Estate Show (the take over of an abandoned building by artists to open an outsider gallery only to have it chained closed by the police) ABC No Rio kept its sense of activism, community, and outsiderness. The product of this open, expansive approach to art was a space for creating new works that did not have links to the art market place and that were able to explore new artistic possibilities. Other outsider galleries sprung up throughout the Lower East Side and East Village—some 200 at the height of the scene in the 1980s, including the 124 Ridge Street Gallery among others. In December 2007, the
New Museum The New Museum of Contemporary Art, founded in 1977 by Marcia Tucker, is a museum in New York City at 235 Bowery, on Manhattan's Lower East Side. History The museum originally opened in a space in the Graduate Center of the then-named New Sc ...
relocated to a brand-new, critically acclaimed building on Bowery at Prince. A growing number of galleries are opening in the Bowery neighborhood to be in close proximity to the museum. The Museum of Reclaimed Urban Space, which opened in 2012, exhibits photography featuring the neighborhood in addition to chronicling its history of activism. Social service agencies like
Henry Street Settlement The Henry Street Settlement is a not-for-profit social service agency in the Lower East Side neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City that provides social services, arts programs and health care services to New Yorkers of all ages. It was founde ...
and Educational Alliance have visual and performing arts programs, the former at Abrons Arts Center, a home for contemporary interdisciplinary arts. The neighborhood is also home to several graffiti artists, such as Chico (artist), Chico and Jean-Michel Basquiat.


Nightlife and live music

As the neighborhood gentrified and has become safer at night, it has become a popular late night destination. Orchard, Ludlow Street (Manhattan), Ludlow and Essex between Rivington Street and Stanton Street (Manhattan), Stanton Street have become especially packed at night, and the resulting noise is a cause of tension between bar owners and longtime residents. Further, as gentrification continues, many established landmarks and venues have been lost. The Lower East Side is also home to many live music venues. Punk bands played at C-Squat and alternative rock bands play at Bowery Ballroom on
Delancey Street __NOTOC__ Delancey Street is one of the main thoroughfares of New York City's Lower East Side in Manhattan, running from the street's western terminus at the Bowery to its eastern end at FDR Drive, connecting to the Williamsburg Bridge and Bro ...
and Mercury Lounge on East Houston Street. Punk bands play at Otto's Shrunken Head and R-Bar. Punk and alternative bands play at Bowery Electric just north of the old CBGB's location. There are also bars that offer performance space, such as Pianos on Ludlow Street and Arlene's Grocery on Stanton Street. The Lower East Side is the location of the Slipper Room a burlesque, variety and vaudeville theatre on Orchard and Stanton. Lady Gaga, Leonard Cohen and U2 have all appeared there, while popular downtown performers Dirty Martini, Murray Hill and Matt Fraser often appear. Variety shows are regularly hosted by comedians James Habacker, Bradford Scobie, Matthew Holtzclaw and Matt Roper under the guise of various characters.


Police and crime

The Lower East Side is patrolled by the 7th Precinct of the New York City Police Department, NYPD, located at Pitt Street. The 7th Precinct, along with the neighboring 5th Precinct, ranked 48th safest out of 69 patrol areas for per-capita crime in 2010. , with a non-fatal assault rate of 42 per 100,000 people, the Lower East Side and East Village's rate of violent crimes per capita is less than that of the city as a whole. The incarceration rate of 449 per 100,000 people is higher than that of the city as a whole. The 7th Precinct has a lower crime rate than in the 1990s, with crimes across all categories having decreased by 64.8% between 1990 and 2019. The precinct reported 0 murders, 7 rapes, 149 robberies, 187 felony assaults, 94 burglaries, 507 grand larcenies, and 18 grand larcenies auto in 2019.


Fire safety

The Lower East Side is served by two New York City Fire Department (FDNY) fire stations: * Engine Co. 15/Ladder Co. 18/Battalion 4 – 25 Pitt Street * Engine Co. 9/Ladder Co. 6 – 75 Canal Street


Health

, preterm births and births to teenage mothers are less common in the Lower East Side and East Village than in other places citywide. In the Lower East Side and East Village, there were 82 preterm births per 1,000 live births (compared to 87 per 1,000 citywide), and 10.1 births to teenage mothers per 1,000 live births (compared to 19.3 per 1,000 citywide). The Lower East Side and East Village have a low population of residents who are Health insurance coverage in the United States, uninsured. In 2018, this population of uninsured residents was estimated to be 11%, slightly less than the citywide rate of 12%. The concentration of particulates, fine particulate matter, the deadliest type of air pollution, air pollutant, in the Lower East Side and East Village is , more than the city average. Twenty percent of Lower East Side and East Village residents are Smoking, smokers, which is more than the city average of 14% of residents being smokers. In the Lower East Side and East Village, 10% of residents are Obesity, obese, 11% are Diabetes mellitus, diabetic, and 22% have hypertension, high blood pressure—compared to the citywide averages of 24%, 11%, and 28% respectively. In addition, 16% of children are obese, compared to the citywide average of 20%. Eighty-eight percent of residents eat some fruits and vegetables every day, which is about the same as the city's average of 87%. In 2018, 70% of residents described their health as "good," "very good," or "excellent," less than the city's average of 78%. For every supermarket in the Lower East Side and East Village, there are 18 convenience store, bodegas. The nearest major hospitals are Beth Israel Medical Center in Stuyvesant Town, as well as the Bellevue Hospital Center and NYU Langone Medical Center in Kips Bay, Manhattan, Kips Bay, and Lower Manhattan Hospital, NewYork-Presbyterian Lower Manhattan Hospital in the Civic Center, Manhattan, Civic Center area. In addition, New York City Fire Department Bureau of EMS, FDNY EMS Division 1/Station 4 is located on Pier 39.


Post offices and ZIP Code

The Lower East Side is located within the ZIP Code 10002. The United States Postal Service operates two post offices in the Lower East Side: * United States Post Office (Knickerbocker Station), Knickerbocker Station – 128 East Broadway * Pitt Station – 185 Clinton Street


Education

The Lower East Side and East Village generally have a higher rate of college-educated residents than the rest of the city . A plurality of residents age 25 and older (48%) have a college education or higher, while 24% have less than a high school education and 28% are high school graduates or have some college education. By contrast, 64% of Manhattan residents and 43% of city residents have a college education or higher. The percentage of Lower East Side and East Village students excelling in math rose from 61% in 2000 to 80% in 2011, and reading achievement increased from 66% to 68% during the same time period. The Lower East Side and East Village's rate of elementary school student absenteeism is lower than the rest of New York City. In the Lower East Side and East Village, 16% of elementary school students missed twenty or more days per school year, less than the citywide average of 20%. Additionally, 77% of high school students in the Lower East Side and East Village graduate on time, more than the citywide average of 75%.


Schools

The New York City Department of Education operates public schools in the Lower East Side as part of Community School District 1. District 1 does not contain any zoned schools, which means that students living in District 1 can apply to any school in the district, including East Village, Manhattan#Schools, those in the East Village. The following public elementary schools are located in the Lower East Side, serving grades PK-5 unless otherwise indicated: * NEST+m, New Explorations Into Science Tech and Math (NEST+m) (grades K-12) * PS 1 Alfred E Smith * PS 2 Meyer London * PS 20 Anna Silver * PS 42 Benjamin Altman * PS 110 Florence Nightingale * PS 134 Henrietta Szold * PS 142 Amalia Castro The following public K-8 school, elementary/middle schools are located in the Lower East Side, serving grades PK-8 unless otherwise indicated: * PS 126 Jacob August Riis * PS 140 Nathan Straus * Shuang Wen School, PS 184 Shuang Wen *East Village Community School * PS 188 The Island School - It is in a pink brick building and opened prior to 1916. In 2016 it had 500 students, almost all of them classified as low income, over 60% being Hispanic or Latino, and 47% being homeless. Due to the large number of homeless students, the rosters often change and students are often absent. The school has specific employees who check on students, and the school offers end of the year events to entice students to stay at the end of the year. PS 188 has its students wear school uniforms. The following public middle and high schools are located in the Lower East Side: * Murry Bergtraum High School, Murry Bergtraum High School for Business Careers (grades 9-12) * Orchard Collegiate Academy (grades 9-12) * School for Global Leaders (grades 6-8) * University Neighborhood Middle School (grades 5-8) The Lower East Side Preparatory High School (LESPH) and Emma Lazarus High School (ELHS) are adult education, second-chance schools that enable students, aged 17–21, to obtain their high school diplomas. LESPH is a Multilingualism, bilingual Chinese language, Chinese-English school with a high proportion of Asian students. ELHS' instructional model is English-immersion with an ethnically diverse student body. The Seward Park Campus comprises five schools with an average graduation rate of about 80%. The original school in the building was opened 1929 and closed 2006.


Libraries

The New York Public Library (NYPL) operates two branches in the Lower East Side. The Seward Park branch is located at 4192 East Broadway. It was founded by the Aguilar Free Library Society in 1886, and the current three-story Carnegie library building was opened in 1909 and renovated in 2004. The Hamilton Fish Park branch is located at 415 East Houston Street. It was originally built as a Carnegie library in 1909, but was torn down when Houston Street was expanded; the current one-story structure was completed in 1960.


Parks

The Lower East Side is home to many private parks, such as La Plaza Cultural. There are several public parks in the area, including Sara D. Roosevelt Park between Chrystie and Forsyth Streets from Houston to Canal Streets, as well as Seward Park (Manhattan), Seward Park on Essex Street between Hester Street and East Broadway. The East River shorefront contains the East River Park, John V. Lindsay East River Park, a public park running between East 12th Street in the East Village and Montgomery Street in the Lower East Side. Planned for the waterfront is Pier 42, East River, Pier 42, the first section of which is scheduled to open in 2021.


Transportation

There are multiple New York City Subway stations in the neighborhood, including Grand Street (IND Sixth Avenue Line), Grand Street (), Bowery (BMT Nassau Street Line), Bowery (), Second Avenue (IND Sixth Avenue Line), Second Avenue (), Delancey Street–Essex Street (New York City Subway), Delancey Street–Essex Street (), and East Broadway (IND Sixth Avenue Line), East Broadway (). New York City Bus routes include . The Williamsburg Bridge and
Manhattan Bridge The Manhattan Bridge is a suspension bridge that crosses the East River in New York City, connecting Lower Manhattan at Canal Street with Downtown Brooklyn at the Flatbush Avenue Extension. The main span is long, with the suspension cables be ...
connect the Lower East Side to Brooklyn. The FDR Drive is on the neighborhood's south and east ends. , thirty-seven percent of roads in the Lower East Side have bike lanes. Bike lanes are present on Allen Street, Allen, Chrystie, Clinton, Delancey, Grand, Houston, Montgomery, Madison, Rivington Street, Rivington, Stanton Street, Stanton, and Suffolk Streets; Bowery, East Broadway, and FDR Drive; the Williamsburg and Manhattan bridges; and the East River Greenway. The Lower East Side is served by NYC Ferry's Lower East Side route, which stops at Corlears Hook in the East River Park. The service started operating on August 29, 2018.


In popular culture

Children's literature * ''All-of-a-Kind Family'', a five-book series by Sydney Taylor first published from 1951 to 1978 * ''The House on the Roof; A Sukkot Story'' by David A. Adler * Rebecca Rubin, a character in the American Girl doll and book series, is a Jewish girl growing up in an immigrant family in 1914. Novels * ''Yekl: A Tale of the New York Ghetto'' by Abraham Cahan. The film ''Hester Street (film), Hester Street'' is based on the book. * ''Bread Givers'' by Anzia Yezierska * ''Call It Sleep'' by Henry Roth * ''Ragtime (novel), Ragtime'' by E. L. Doctorow * ''The Basketball Diaries (book), The Basketball Diaries'' by Jim Carroll * ''Low Life (book), Low Life'' by Lucy Sante * ''Lush Life (novel), Lush Life'' by Richard Price (writer), Richard Price * ''Wonder (Palacio novel), Wonder'' by R.J. Palacio Songs * "Slum Goddess" by The Fugs * "Ballad Of The Lower East Side" by Michael Monroe * "Beautiful Night" by B2ST * "Clinton St Girl" by Wakey!Wakey! * "Down on the Lower East Side" by Justin Townes Earle * "East Side Beat" by The Toasters * "East Side Story" by Emily King * "For My Family" by Agnostic Front * "Heavy Metal Lover" by Lady Gaga * "In the Flesh (Blondie song), In the Flesh" by Blondie (band), Blondie * "L.E.S. Artistes" by Santigold * "L.E.S." by Childish Gambino (aka Donald Glover) * "Living in L.E.S." by INDK * "Lower East Side Crew" by Warzone (band), Warzone * "Lower East Side" by David Peel (musician), David Peel * "The Luckiest Guy On The Lower East Side" by The Magnetic Fields * "Ludlow St" by Julian Casablancas * "Ludlow Street" by Suzanne Vega * "Marry the Night" by Lady Gaga * "New York City Tonight" by GG Allin * "She Took a Lot of Pills (And Died)" by Robbie Fulks * "Southside" by Fun Lovin' Criminals * "What's My Name? (Rihanna song), What's My Name?" by Rihanna ft. Drake (entertainer), Drake * "Veni Vidi Vici" by Madonna (entertainer), Madonna * ''Motor-Cycle (album), Motor-Cycle'' LP by Lotti Golden * David Peel (musician), David Peel & the Lower East Side Band, an early Punk rock, punk band * Gogol Bordello, a gypsy punk band from the area * The Holy Modal Rounders, a freak-folk band in the 1960s * Nausea (band), Nausea, a crust punk band in the late 1980s and early 1990s Plays * ''Secret History of the Lower East Side'' by Alice Tuan * ''Welcome to Arroyo's'' by Kristoffer Diaz Films * ''Alphabet City (film), Alphabet City'' * ''Batteries Not Included (film), Batteries Not Included'' * ''Beautiful Losers (film), Beautiful Losers'' * ''Before We Go'' * ''Cloverfield'' * ''The Cobbler'' * ''The Corruptor'' * ''Crossing Delancey'' * ''Date Night'' * ''Die Hard with a Vengeance'' * ''Donnie Brasco (film), Donnie Brasco'' * ''Downtown 81'' * ''Frogs for Snakes'' * ''Gangs of New York'' * ''The Girl Is in Trouble'' * ''Hester Street (film), Hester Street'' * ''His People'' * ''I Am Legend (film), I Am Legend'' * ''The Italian (1915 film), The Italian'' * ''Johnny Dangerously'' * ''Lucky Number Slevin'' * ''Married to the Mob'' * ''Men in Black (1997 film), Men In Black'' * ''Mixed Blood (1985 film), Mixed Blood'' * ''The Naked City'' * ''Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist'' * ''The Night They Raided Minsky's'' * ''Once Upon a Time in America'' * ''P.S. I Love You (film), P.S. I Love You'' * ''Raising Victor Vargas'' * ''Rent (film), Rent'' * ''Rhythm Thief (1994 film), Rhythm Thief'' * ''Sex and the City (film), Sex and the City'' * ''Taxi Driver'' * ''The Wolfpack'' * ''When Harry Met Sally...'' Television * ''The Andy Milonakis Show'' * ''Flight of the Conchords (TV series)'' * ''Forever (2014 TV series), Forever'' * ''Gossip Girl'' * ''How To Make It In America'' * ''Mr. Robot'' * ''Breadwinners (TV series), Breadwinners'' parodies the Lower East Side as the "Lower Yeast Side." * ''Master of None'' Video games * ''The Darkness (video game), The Darkness'' * ''Syphon Filter 2'' * ''Grand Theft Auto IV'' Music videos *"Girls Just Want To Have Fun" by Cyndi Lauper *"Can't Hold Us Down" by Christina Aguilera *"I'll Be Loving You Forever" by New Kids On The Block *"Darling It's True" by Locksley (band), Locksley *"It Ain't Hard to Tell" by Nas


Notable residents

* Adrienne Bailon (born 1983), recording artist and actress * Lepke Buchalter (1897-1944), mobster and original leader of Murder, Inc. * George Barris (photographer), George Barris (1922–2016), photographer best known for his photographs of Marilyn Monroe. * Sy Berger (1923–2014), baseball card designer with Topps * Mark Bloch (artist), Mark Bloch (born 1956), artist. * Joseph B. Bloomingdale (1842–1904) and Lyman G. Bloomingdale (1841–1905), co-founders of Bloomingdale's * Arlyne Brickman (born 1934), former mafia informant and prostitute * George Burns (1896–1996), comedian and actor * James Cagney (1899–1986), actor * Michael Che (born 1983), comedian and actor * Joshua Lionel Cowen (1877-1965), inventor and founder of Lionel Corporation, toy train manufacturer. *
Jimmy Durante James Francis Durante ( , ; February 10, 1893 – January 29, 1980) was an American comedian, actor, singer, vaudevillian, and pianist. His distinctive gravelly speech, Lower East Side accent, comic language-butchery, jazz-influenced song ...
(1893–1980), singer, pianist, comedian and actor * Monk Eastman (1875–1920), gangster who ran the Eastman Gang * Miriam Friedlander (1914-2009), activist and politician who served on the
New York City Council The New York City Council is the lawmaking body of New York City. It has 51 members from 51 council districts throughout the five Borough (New York City), boroughs. The council serves as a check against the Mayor of New York City, mayor in a may ...
from 1974 to 1991. * Lady Gaga (born 1986), singer, songwriter, actress *
John Garfield John Garfield (born Jacob Julius Garfinkle, March 4, 1913 – May 21, 1952) was an American actor who played brooding, rebellious, working-class characters. He grew up in poverty in New York City. In the early 1930s, he became a member of ...
(1913-1952), actor * Luis Guzmán (born 1956), actor * Stephen Grammauta (1916-2016) * Ben Gazzara (1930–2012), actor, director * George Gershwin (1898–1937), composer, pianist * Vincent Gigante (1928–2005) * Lotti Golden (born 1949) * Marcus Goldman (1821–1904), banker, businessman, financier * Ralph Goldstein (1913–1997), Olympic épée fencer * Ruby Goldstein (1907–1984) * Samuel Gompers (1850-1924), labor union leader * Rocky Graziano (1919–1990), professional boxer * Samuel Greenberg (1893-1917), poet * David Greenglass (1922–2014) * Sally Gross (choreographer), Sally Gross (1933-2015), choreographer. * Maggie Gyllenhaal (born 1977), actress * Yip Harburg (1896-1981), songwriter who wrote all of the songs for the film ''The Wizard of Oz (1939 film), The Wizard of Oz'', including "Over the Rainbow". * Lazarus Joseph (1891–1966), New York State Senate, NY State Senator and New York City Comptroller. * Jane Katz (born 1943), Olympic swimmer * Jack Kirby (1917–1994), comic book artist, writer, and editor. * LA II (born 1967 as Angel Ortiz), graffiti artist and Keith Haring collaborator * Fiorello LaGuardia (1882–1947), politician, renowned reform mayor of New York City * Meyer Lansky (1902-1983), gangster * Emanuel Lehman (1827-1907) * Henry Lehman (1822-1855) * Mayer Lehman (1830-1897) * Saul Leiter (1923-2013), photographer and painter * Melissa Leo (born 1960), actress * Lucky Luciano (1897-1962) * Sidney Lumet (1924-2011), filmmaker * Madonna (Born 1958), pop star * Joseph Mankiewicz (1909-1993) Academy Award-winning director, producer, and screenwriter * Jackie Mason (1931-2021), comedian and actor * Walter Matthau (1920-2000), film actor, often paired with Jack Lemmon * Julia Migenes (Born 1949) * Zero Mostel (1915-1977), comic stage and film actor * Jim Neu (1943-2010) * Mikhail Odnoralov (1944-2016 * Charlie Parker (1920-1955) musician * Genesis P-Orridge (1950-2020), British singer-songwriter, musician, co-founder of Throbbing Gristle * Lady Jaye Breyer P-Orridge (1969-2007), British singer-songwriter, musician, co-founder of Throbbing Gristle * Anthony Provenzano (1917-1988) * Lee Quiñones (Born 1960) * Lou Reed (1942-2013), musician, singer, songwriter, co-founder of The Velvet Underground, seminal New York City avant garde rock band * Edward G. Robinson (1893-1973), film star, first became well-known for playing gangsters * Sonny Rollins (Born 1930), musician * Joseph Seligman (1819-1880) * Bugsy Siegel (1906-1947), mobster, known for developing the Las Vegas Strip * Sheldon Silver (1944-2022), former Speaker of the
New York State Assembly The New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York State Legislature, with the New York State Senate being the upper house. There are 150 seats in the Assembly. Assembly members serve two-year terms without term limits. The Assem ...
. * Al Singer (1909-1961), boxer *Mose Solomon (1900-1966), the "Rabbi of Swat", American major league baseball player * David South, musician and filmmaker * John Spacely (died 1993), musician, actor and nightlife personality whose life was chronicled in two Lech Kowalski documentaries, ''Story of a Junkie'' and ''Born To Lose: The Last Rock and Roll Movie''. * Ysanne Spevack (Born 1972), British composer, conductor, arranger, and food writer, changed her name to Meena Ysanne in 2018 * Johnny Thunders (1952-1991), guitarist, singer and songwriter, came to fame with the New York Dolls * Rachel Trachtenburg (born 1993), musician, singer, actress, model, former radio host and activist. * Luther Vandross (1951-2005), singer and songwriter * B. D. Wong (born 1960), actor * Christopher Woodrow (born 1977), financierMarsh, Julia
"Ousted ''Birdman'' producer counter-sues over dismissal"
''New York Post'', October 15, 2014. Accessed July 9, 2017. "'It’s a shame that Worldview’s most successful film to date, ''Birdman'', a legitimate Oscar contender, is being released the same week that we find ourselves engaged in a lawsuit,' said Christopher Woodrow, former CEO of Worldview Entertainment. The Lower East Side resident slapped his ex-business partner, Maria Cestone, and one of the firm’s major investors, Sarah Johnson, daughter of SF Giants owner Charles B. Johnson, with the Manhattan Supreme Court suit on Wednesday."


See also

* Alife Rivington Club * Cooperative Village * Grand Street Settlement * East Side (Manhattan) * East Side Hebrew Institute (ESHI) * East Village/Lower East Side Historic District *
First Houses First Houses is a public housing project in the East Village, Manhattan, New York City and was one of the first public housing projects in the United States. First Houses were designated a New York City and National Historic Landmark in 1974. T ...
*
Henry Street Settlement The Henry Street Settlement is a not-for-profit social service agency in the Lower East Side neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City that provides social services, arts programs and health care services to New Yorkers of all ages. It was founde ...
* Lower East Side Conservancy * Lower East Side History Project * Lower East Side Tenement Museum * Moshe Feinstein * Museum of Reclaimed Urban Space * Ray's Candy Store * TEATRO SEA * Tompkins Square Park * University Settlement House


References

Notes Bibliography *Brazee, Christopher, et al. (October 9, 2012
''East Village/Lower East Side Historic District Designation Report''
Betts, Mary Beth (ed.). New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission


External links

*
Lower East Side – Neighborhood Profile

Lower East Side – Tenement Museum


''New York'' magazine

* [http://leshp.org/ Lower East Side History Project]
Lower East Side Preservation Initiative


{{Authority control Lower East Side, Neighborhoods in Manhattan Yiddish theatre in the United States Jews and Judaism in Manhattan Historic Jewish communities in the United States Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Manhattan Orthodox Judaism in New York City